Paper kicking mechanism and printer utilizing the same

ABSTRACT

A printer of the invention includes a main body, an exit roller and at least one kicking mechanism. The exit roller is rotatably disposed on the main body and comprises a shaft and a rolling portion disposed on the shaft and rotated by the shaft to send paper out of the main body. The kicking mechanism is joined to the shaft and periodically exceeds the exit roller in a paper exit direction to kick the paper from the exit roller.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a printer, and more particularly to a printer with a paper kicking mechanism.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 1 depicts a conventional printer with an auto sheet feed (ASF) device. In FIG. 1, paper 5 is fed into a printer by the pick-up roller 20. The paper is fed out of the printer by a feed roller 30 and an exit roller 40. The feed roller 30 is joined to the exit roller 40 by a belt (not shown).

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b depict the relationship between the feed roller 30 and the pick-up roller 20. A motor 50 drives the pick-up roller 20 and the feed roller 30. The pick-up roller 20, however, is connected to or separated from the motor 50 by an ASF clutch 60. When paper is to be picked up, as shown in FIG. 2 a, the ASF clutch 60 engages the pick-up roller 20, whereby the motor 50 rotates the pick-up roller 20 to pick up paper. At this time, the feed roller 30 rotates in the same direction as the pick-up roller 20 but opposite to the direction in which paper moves out of the printer. Because the exit roller 40 is joined to the feed roller 30 by a belt, the exit roller 40 is constrained to rotate in the same direction as the feed roller 30. The exit roller 40 rotates opposite to the direction in which paper moves out of the printer.

When the paper is being printed, as shown in FIG. 2 b, the ASF clutch 60 is disconnected with the pick-up roller 20, whereby the motor 50 rotates the feed roller 30 only. At this time, the motor 50 rotates clockwise enabling the feed roller 30 and the exit roller 40 to rotate counter-clockwise to the direction in which the paper exits the printer.

If the tail of the paper remains on the exit roller 40, when the exit roller 40 rotates opposite to the direction of the paper when the pick-up roller 20 rotates, the paper rolls back into and jams the printer.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION

A printer with paper kicking mechanism is provided. An exemplary embodiment of a printer with paper kicking mechanism of the invention comprises a main body, an exit roller and at least one kicking mechanism. The exit roller is rotatably disposed on the main body and comprises a shaft. A rolling portion is disposed on and rotated by the shaft to send paper out of the main body. The kicking mechanism is joined to the shaft and periodically exceeds the exit roller in a paper exit direction to kick the paper exiting the printer via the exit roller.

The kicking mechanism comprises a kicker, a cam and an elastic element. The kicker is disposed between the main body and the exit roller and periodically exceeds the exit roller in a paper exit direction, whereby the paper is kicked from the exit roller when the exit roller rotates. The cam is disposed on a shaft of the exit roller, abutting the kicker and rotates about the shaft to reciprocally move the kicker in the paper exit direction, whereby the kicker periodically exceeds the exit roller. The elastic element is disposed between the kicker and the main body and biases the kicker, whereby the position of the kicker abutting the cam is maintained. When the point on the cam nearest to the shaft abuts the kicker, the kicker exceeds the exit roller.

The kicker comprises an abutting portion and a kicking portion. The abutting portion is movably disposed on the main body and has a first surface abutting the cam and a second surface biased by the spring. The kicking portion is connected to the abutting portion and near the exit roller. When the cam rotates to reciprocate the abutting portion, the kicking portion periodically exceeds the exit roller to kick the paper from the exit roller.

The kicking portion comprises an upper kicking element connected to the first surface and a lower kicking element connected to the first surface. The upper kicking element and the lower kicking element are curved and extend to surround the exit roller, and the upper kicking element periodically exceeds the exit roller to kick to exit the paper from the exit roller.

A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional printer with an auto sheet feed (ASF) device;

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b depict the relationship between a feed roller and a pick-up roller of a conventional printer;

FIG. 3 a is a perspective view of a paper kicking mechanism of the invention;

FIG. 3 b is an enlarged view of A portion of FIG. 3 a;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of FIG. 3 a;

FIGS. 5 a and 5 b depict the structure of a kicker of the invention;

FIG. 6 depicts the structure of a cam of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows that the point on the cam most distant away from a shaft abuts the kicker; and

FIG. 8 shows that the point on the cam nearest a shaft abuts the kicker.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 3 a and 3 b, the printer 1000 of the invention comprises a main body 100, an exit roller 200 and a paper kicking mechanism 300. When the exit roller 200 rotates, paper (not shown) moves in the direction D to exit the main body 100.

Referring to FIG. 4, the exit roller 200 comprises a shaft 210 and a rolling portion 220. The shaft 210 is rotatably disposed on the main body 100. The rolling portion 220 is a cylinder with a diameter greater than the shaft 210 and co-axially disposed on the shaft 210. When the shaft 210 rotates, the rolling portion 220 rotates to push the paper in the direction D to exit the main body 100.

To ensure the paper leaves the exit roller 200 and prevent the paper from rolling back into the main body 100, a paper kicking mechanism 300 is disposed between the main body 100 and the exit roller 200. The paper kicking mechanism 300 periodically exceeds the exit roller 200 to push the paper away from the rolling portion 220. The structure of the paper kicking mechanism 300 is described in the following.

The paper kicking mechanism 300 comprises a kicker 310, a cam 320 and a spring 330. The kicker 310 has a flange 318 slidably engaging a groove (not shown) of a lug 120 of the main body 100. The spring 330 is disposed between the kicker 310 and the main body 100 with one end biasing the kicker 310 and the other end holding the shaft 210, whereby the kicker 310 is maintained to abut the cam 320.

The structure of the kicker 310 is shown in FIGS. 5 a and 5 b. The kicker 310 comprises a kicking portion and an abutting portion 311. The kicking portion comprises an upper kicking element 312 and a lower kicking element 314. The abutting portion 311 is substantially a rectangular and has a first surface 3112 and a second surface 3114. The upper kicking element 312 and the lower kicking element 314 are connected to the first surface 3112. The upper kicking element 312 and the lower kicking element 314 are curved and surround the shaft 210 of the exit roller 200. The cam 320 abuts the first surface 3112. The spring 330 holds a post 316 formed in a recess 3116 on the second surface 3114 and biases the abutting portion 311.

Referring to FIG. 6, a D-shaped hole 326 is formed in the central section of the cam 320. The shaft 210 extends through the hole 326 to join the cam 320 to the exit roller 200. To position the cam 320, part of the shaft 210 is D-shaped. The cam 320 rotates with the shaft 210 to enable the point most distant from the shaft 210 on the cam 320 and the point nearest the shaft 210 on the cam 320 to alternatively abut the first surface 3112.

Referring to FIG. 7, the point 322 most distant from the shaft 210 on the cam 320 abuts the abutting portion 311. When the exit roller 200 rotates, the cam 320 rotates with the shaft 210 and abuts the first surface 3112 of the abutting portion 311. When the point 322 most distant from the shaft 210 on the cam 320 abuts the abutting portion 311, the kicker 310 is pushed to away from the shaft 210, whereby the surface of the upper kicking element 312 is slightly lower than the surface of the rolling portion 220.

Referring to FIG. 8, the point 324 nearest the shaft 210 on the cam 320 abuts the abutting portion 311. When the shaft 210 rotates to enable the point 324 nearest the shaft 210 on the cam 320 to abut the abutting portion 311, the kicker 310 is pushed by the spring 330 to move in the direction shown by the arrow of FIG. 8 to approach the shaft 210, whereby the surface of the upper kicking element 312 exceeds the surface of the rolling portion 220 for kicking the paper from the exit roller 200. When the shaft 210 continuously rotates, the upper kicking element 312 periodically exceeds the rolling portion 220 and retracts, whereby paper remaining on the rolling portion 220 is pushed to exit the rolling portion 220.

To increase the friction between the upper kicking element 312 and the paper, the surface of the upper kicking element 312 has a sawtooth or other shape, or is made of high friction material. The lower kicking element 314 is used to position the kicker 310 and the shaft 210.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements. 

1. A paper kicking mechanism for a printer comprising a main body and an exit roller, comprising a kicker disposed between the main body and the exit roller and periodically to exceed the exit roller in a paper exit direction so as to kick the paper from the exit roller when the exit roller rotates; a cam disposed on a shaft of the exit roller, abutting the kicker and rotated about the shaft to reciprocally move the kicker in the paper exit direction to periodically exceed the exit roller; and an elastic element disposed between the kicker and the main body and biasing the kicker, whereby the kicker is maintained to abut the cam.
 2. The paper kicking mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic element is a spring.
 3. The paper kicking mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the point on the cam nearest to the shaft abuts the kicker, the kicker exceeds the exit roller.
 4. The paper kicking mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein the kicker is near the exit roller and comprises an abutting portion movably disposed on the main body and having a first surface abutting the cam and a second surface biased by the spring and a kicking portion connected to the abutting portion, and when the cam rotates to reciprocate the abutting portion, the kicking portion periodically exceeds the exit roller to kick to exit the paper from the exit roller.
 5. The paper kicking mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein the kicking portion comprises an upper kicking element connected to the first surface and a lower kicking element connected to the first surface, and the upper kicking element and the lower kicking element are curved and extends to surround the exit roller, and the upper kicking element periodically exceeds the exit roller to kick the paper from the exit roller.
 6. The paper kicking mechanism as claimed in claim 5, wherein the surface of the upper kicking element is sawtooth-shaped.
 7. A printer, comprising: a main body; an exit roller rotatably disposed on the main body and comprising a shaft and a rolling portion disposed on the shaft and rotated by the shaft to send paper out of the main body; at least one kicking mechanism joined to the shaft periodically exceeding the exit roller in a paper exit direction kicking the paper from the exit roller.
 8. The printer as claimed in claim 7, wherein the kicking mechanism comprises a kicker disposed between the main body and the shaft periodically exceeding the exit roller in the paper exit direction so as to kick the paper from the exit roller when the exit roller rotates.
 9. The printer as claimed in claim 8, wherein the kicking mechanism comprises: a cam disposed on a shaft, abutting the kicker and rotated about the shaft to move the kicker reciprocating in the paper exit direction to periodically exceed the exit roller; and an elastic element disposed between the kicker and the main body and biasing the kicker, whereby the position of the kicker abutting the cam is maintained.
 10. The printer as claimed in claim 9, wherein the elastic element is a spring.
 11. The printer as claimed in claim 9, wherein when the point on the cam nearest to the shaft abuts the kicker, the kicker exceeds the exit roller.
 12. The printer as claimed in claim 10, wherein the kicker is near the exit roller and comprises an abutting portion movably disposed on the main body and having a first surface abutting the cam and a second surface biased by the spring and a kicking portion connected to the abutting portion, and when the cam rotates to reciprocate the abutting portion, the kicking portion periodically exceeds the exit roller to kick the paper from the exit roller.
 13. The printer as claimed in claim 11, wherein the kicking portion comprises an upper kicking element connected to the first surface and a lower kicking element connected to the first surface, and the upper kicking element and the lower kicking element are curved and extend to surround the exit roller, and the upper kicking element periodically exceeds the exit roller to kick the paper to exit the exit paper.
 14. The printer as claimed in claim 13, wherein the surface of the upper kicking element is sawtooth-shaped. 